Megabus vs Greyhound | Bus travel across the US

by Alice
Megabus wins against Greyhound when it comes to traveling across the USA by bus

Call us weird, but we spent our honeymoon traveling across the US by bus. In 3 months during the summer of 2016, we went from New York City to Los Angeles by bus, only taking 2 domestic flights from Chicago to Detroit, and from Houston to San Diego. We’ve crossed 31 cities from our bucket list in 12 different States. So it’s safe to say we have been taking our fair share of bus rides in the US and can now show you our Megabus vs Greyhound report! Just keep in mind this happened in 2016 so things might have changed a little since then.


This post may contain affiliate links, which means that we might earn a small commission if you make a booking or a purchase using one of our links, at absolutely zero additional cost to you!


Which is best? Megabus or Greyhound?

Booking online: Megabus vs Greyhound

We found the Megabus website to be easier to navigate than the Greyhound one. While the last one might seem a bit more sleek and professional, the Megabus one gave more informations and possibilities to easily check for the best itinerary. Which is important when you don’t have a set plan but instead are looking for the cheapest, most practical and easiest way to travel.

We also seemed to have less issues in terms of site responding and booking on Megabus than we did on Greyhound.

The main thing that we appreciated on Megabus compared to Greyhound was the possibility to choose reserved seats for a couple more bucks. On that note, we recommend you try to get the first row on the top of the double deckers. These are the most comfortable seats, especially if you’re on a night trip. Being able to make sure we would have attributed seats together and in the part of the bus we wanted was great with Megabus, and we would have loved to have that possibility with Greyhound.

Because of all these reasons, we always tried to book on Megabus instead of Greyhound when possible.
• Booking online: Megabus wins! – Click here in order to do Megabus tickets booking online

Which company did we use where? Megabus vs Greyhound report

NYC to Boston: Megabus
Detroit to Chicago: Megabus
Chicago to State College: Megabus
State College to Philadelphia: Megabus
Philadelphia to Pittsburgh: Megabus
Pittsburgh to Washington: Megabus
Washington DC to Atlanta: Megabus
Atlanta to Charleston: Greyhound
Charleston to Jacksonville: Greyhound
Jacksonville to Gainesville: Greyhound
Gainesville to New Orleans: Megabus
New Orleans to Houston: Megabus
San Diego to Los Angeles: Greyhound
Los Angeles to Santa Cruz: Greyhound
Santa Cruz to Sacramento: Greyhound
Sacramento to Oakland: Greyhound
Oakland to Santa Cruz: Greyhound
Santa Cruz to Los Angeles: Greyhound

It’s a tie! As Megabus was practically non-existant in California at the time, Greyhound was practically our only option!
Although now Megabus has stops in Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Francisco and a couple other places in California.

| Read more about our 3 months road trip across the US by bus!

 

Prices : How much did we spend on Megabus vs. Greyhound? [Price per person]

NYC to Boston: 30$ (including 2$ for a reserved seat) | Megabus
Detroit to Chicago: 24$ (including 2$ for a reserved seat) | Megabus
Chicago to State College: 36$ (including 2$ for a reserved seat) | Megabus
State College to Philadelphia: 25$ (including 2$ for a reserved seat) | Megabus
Philadelphia to Pittsburgh: 13.50$ (including 2$ for a reserved seat) | Megabus
Pittsburgh to Washington DC: 6$ (including 2$ for a reserved seat) | Megabus
Washington DC to Atlanta: 41$ (including 2$ for a reserved seat) | Megabus
Atlanta to Charleston: 41$ | Greyhound
Charleston to Jacksonville: 33$ | Greyhound
Jacksonville to Gainesville: 15$ | Greyhound
Gainesville to New Orleans: 32$ (including 2$ for a reserved seat) | Megabus
New Orleans to Houston: 14$ | Megabus
San Diego to Los Angeles: 15$ | Greyhound
Los Angeles to Santa Cruz: 20$ | Greyhound
Santa Cruz to Sacramento: 23$ | Greyhound
Sacramento to Oakland: 8$ | Greyhound
Oakland to Santa Cruz: 14$ | Greyhound
Santa Cruz to Los Angeles: 31$ | Greyhound

Total: Megabus 231.50$ | Greyhound 200$
Total km: Megabus roughly 5500km | Greyhound roughly 3000km

Megabus wins when it comes to price/km! | Make a booking on Megabus website
On that note, Megabus coaches seemed usually bigger than Greyhound, so it might explain some of the price difference (the service does not).

 

Which is more comfortable: Megabus or Greyhound?

We’re not going to lie, doing long bus rides are never a comfortable affair. Your ass hurts, you feel stuck, you can never find the right position to fall asleep – or not wake up with terribly sore muscles. I have honestly looked for “what’s the best position to sleep in a bus” on Google more times than I can admit. The honest answer: there is none.

However, all in all, we found the Megabus coaches to be newer and more comfortable. Especially the reserved seats which felt a bit cleaner than the others. In Megabus you also have some seats in squares, which can be interesting if you’re traveling with your family or friends and might not sleep or can deal with each other so you can get your feet (minus the shoes!) on the seat across yours – which might be your best bet if you want to catch some sleep.

Megabus wins the comfort battle | Head to Megabus website to book your next trip

 

Which company is better when it comes to service?

Staff & Drivers
We’ve had a female driver on Greyhound, which I’d like to highlight because it was the only one in 22 bus trips. I count that as a plus. However we’ve also had a flake on that same bus company on our trip from Jacksonville to Gainesville. Our bus was getting late, and we had no information about what the matter was or when the bus was expected to leave. Then we heard and understood what had happened: the driver just didn’t wake up (which can happen, reason why it’s good for the company to have a spare around!). So they had to replace him last minute (which took hours), and we almost missed our bus to New Orleans (the only one of the day – yay!). The staff and the drivers are not particularly nice or whatever, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be Miss Sunshine if I was paid what they’re paid (I’m guessing not much) to do never ending bus rides cross country.
• Tie

Luggage handling
It seemed to be a big deal on Internet when I was researching both companies online before booking our trips, but we honestly never had any problem concerning our luggages. So nothing to say about that!
• Tie

Stops
These were rarely great experiences. Sometimes we had very long stops in-between two legs of a trip (Atlanta to Charleston, for instance) and the areas weren’t always the best. When it’s the middle of the night, it’s really hard to not be able to lie down to sleep, or to endure the bright lights of the stops. The informations about the time and place to take the next bus were often lacking or hard to get by at Greyhound stations. It didn’t happen to us, but we witnessed a couple people who missed their bus because of lack of clear informations. We’d recommend you to be extremely aware and curious of what’s going on around you! Also, Megabus stops tended to be random places and not proper stations, which can be a bit scary if you’re traveling on your own.
• Tie

Tie on service: they both are far from being incredible. It’s clearly not their main concern. If it’s a big deal for you, research more expensive companies that don’t have to cut costs on service to be the cheapest on the block.

 

Traveling on the East Coast by bus: Megabus vs Greyhound

Megabus is very present on the East Coast, and is pretty cheap. Because of what I’ve mentioned above when it comes to booking online and comfort, we often chose Megabus over Greyhound when possible, and didn’t regret our choice.

Megabus wins on the East Coast | Book your East Coast road trip in bus with Megabus

 

Traveling in California by bus: Megabus vs Greyhound

Megabus, where were you?!

Greyhound wins – Megabus forfeited.

| Going to California? This is going to make you want to go on a road trip in Northern California

 

So, which is better? Megabus or Greyhound?

We can safely say we preferred to ride with Megabus rather than Greyhound, and would definitely ride Megabus over Greyhound in the future where it’s possible.

Megabus wins!

• Click here to check out prices, destinations and timetable with Megabus •

 


This post is not a sponsored post and only reflects our views and experience.

Our complete Megabus vs Greyhound review while traveling by bus in the US | Is Greyhound better in California ? | Is Megabus cheaper than Greyhound? Find all the answers here! #megabus #greyhound #bus

You may also like

4 comments

Mams 26 July 2018 - 9 h 58 min

Plus aucun moyen de locomotion n’aura de secret pour vous 😉 Vous les aurez tous testés ! 🙂

Reply
Simone Cardillo 2 August 2018 - 22 h 53 min

La prochaine fois dans un bateau……

Reply
Mo 18 March 2020 - 12 h 16 min

Thank you a lot for this information! I myself used Greyhound only while traveling from Washington to Chicago, and I can say without any doubts it was the worst bus trip in my life. You never know which bus is yours, rude staff never answer questions, and at last, 3 transfers within 19 hours. That was really exhausting when you have a 20-kg suitcase. Maybe next time I will try Megabus if I have only a backpack.

Reply
Alice 18 March 2020 - 17 h 18 min

It’s been a while since our trip but I can totally relate to what you’re saying!! I think Flixbus has also made it to the States, something to consider!

Reply

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More